54 pages • 1 hour read
Jack FinneyContents of the Dead Man's Pocket
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1956A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Consequences of Unbridled Ambition
Like many young men beginning their careers in New York City, Tom has professional goals and plans for the future. His work ethic is strong, and his desire to succeed drives every decision. For Tom, moderate success is not an option; he intends to achieve spectacular success, reaching the top of his company and making lots of money.
Tom doesn’t enjoy his work; it is only a means to an end. Thinking of his latest project, which he hopes will advance his career, he recalls “four long Saturday afternoons [when] he had stood in supermarkets counting the people who passed certain displays” (22). He remembers taking notes over “stacks of trade publications” and spending “a dozen lunch hours and early evenings” (22) at the library, taking more notes. Tom’s life is his work, even though he takes no joy in it.
Tom is unaware the price he is paying in exchange for an exalted professional position and material wealth. He deprives himself of everyday pleasures, like going to a movie he wants to see, and he spends most of his time alone, working every free moment. He sacrifices time he and Clare could spend together, essentially forcing her to live alone too. Tom doesn’t know how she feels when she goes to the movies alone; neither he nor the narrative give her feelings any thought. When his research notes fly out the window, he tries to rationalize the loss: “Even though his plan were adopted, he told himself, it wouldn’t bring him a raise in pay—not immediately, anyway, or as a direct result. It won’t bring me a promotion either, he argued—not of itself” (22). Consumed by ambition, however, he risks his life and nearly loses it to retrieve them.
Only when Tom believes he is about to die does he understand that ambition has obscured the truth and derailed his life. Looking at the yellow paper, he thinks, “Contents of the dead man’s pockets […] one sheet of paper bearing penciled notations—incomprehensible” (29). He remembers the hours he spent alone, working, “filling out the yellow sheet that had brought him [out on the ledge]” (29). Suddenly filled with anger, Tom sees the truth and knows he has wasted his life.
Controlling and Overcoming Fear
When Tom steps through the window to retrieve his yellow paper, he does not feel afraid, but fear soon becomes a deadly enemy. He has convinced himself that retrieving the paper will be an easy task; he has imagined what a good story it will be to tell at the office. Once outside, however, Tom realizes the ledge isn’t as wide as he thought, the air is cold, and the darkness is darker than expected. With his fingers gripping the indentations between the bricks, he moves toward the corner where the paper is caught and feels fear for the first time: “It was hard to take the first shuffling sideways step then—to make himself move—and fear stirred in his stomach, but he did it again by not allowing himself time to think” (23). By not thinking about what he is doing, Tom keeps fear at bay—temporarily. This behavior, a psychological response to danger, occurs numerous times on the ledge.
Tom cannot ignore his fear forever. Fear turns to terror when he reaches the corner and picks up the paper; that terror then triggers an extreme physical response. To grab the paper, he puts one foot on each ledge and bends his knees, but it is still out of reach. Lowering his right shoulder, he picks up the paper and inadvertently looks down, seeing Lexington Avenue from 11 stories above the street. Tom had willed himself not to look down, and suddenly seeing the street makes him aware of his perilous position on the ledge. Horrified, “he began to tremble violently, panic flaring through his mind and muscles, and he felt the blood rush to the surface of his skin” (24). In the grip of such terror, Tom acts on instinct and stands up.
Once Tom truly understands his life-threatening situation, his mind tries to protect him from being overwhelmed by fear. It shuts down almost completely as he shuffles back toward his apartment. Psychologically, he erects “a flimsy barrier” (26) in his mind to separate himself from his feelings, yet he is consciously aware that this barrier could break at any time. When it does, Tom visualizes himself falling:
He saw himself stumbling suddenly sideways as he crept along the ledge and saw his upper body arc outward, arms flailing […] He saw himself falling with a terrible speed as his body revolved in the air, knees clutched tight to his chest, eyes squeezed shut, moaning softly (25).
Driven by fear, Tom’s imagination creates a vivid image of his dying. However, it also finds ways to combat his terror, transporting Tom from his present circumstances to a place of safety. He visualizes his apartment, “warm, cheerful, incredibly spacious” (26), and sees himself “striding through it, lying down on the floor on his back, arms spread wide, reveling in its unbelievable security” (26). He also envisions Clare coming home, seeing him outside the window, and rescuing him. Thoughts of home and family provide comfort and security, grounding Tom and enabling him to rally enough to escape his predicament. Thus, fear becomes an agent of change in Tom’s character: His confrontation with death recalibrates his priorities and perspective, inspiring him to embrace what matters most in life.
The Will to Live
Tom’s situation outside his apartment seems impossible to survive. His mind and body are assaulted by fear, and his physical position on the ledge is unsustainable for any length of time. When the window slams shut, he is trapped. Regardless of each developing threat to his life, however, he continues to fight to save himself. He struggles to control his fear, and after being terrorized by the sight of Lexington Avenue so far below him, he forces himself to walk back toward his apartment. He attempts to summon help, and when he fails, he tries again and again.
Crouched on the ledge in front of his closed apartment window, Tom faces the real possibility that his life is about to end, but he refuses to accept it: “He simply was not going to cling here till he slipped and fell; he told himself that now. There was one last thing he could try” (29). With all his strength, “he could drive his fist forward against the glass” (29). Tom considers the consequences of trying to break the glass with his fist:
If it broke, his fist smashing through, he was safe; he might cut himself badly and probably would, but with his arm inside the room, he would be secure. But if the glass did not break, the rebound, flinging his arm back, would topple him off the ledge. He was sure of that (29).
He knows breaking the glass is his only path to survival. His ensuing actions demonstrate his will to live, and this conviction supersedes his paralyzing fear. He draws back his arm and makes a fist, ready to strike the blow, but he pauses, knowing the pause “might be an extension of his life” (30). He feels that “to live even a few seconds longer […], even out here on this ledge in the night, was infinitely better than to die a moment earlier than he had to” (30). He lowers his arm, clinging to life for a few more moments.
With time running out, Tom knows he must act. If he doesn’t, he will surely die: “He could not kneel here hesitating indefinitely till he lost all courage to act, waiting till he slipped off the ledge” (30). Summoning “every last scrap of strength he could bring to bear” (30), Tom strikes the window, breaks the glass, and lives.
